Ground Zero

Multiple Choice

1. D (Chapter 1)

2. B (Various chapters)

3. C (Chapter 4)

4. D (Chapter 12)

5. A (Chapter 16)

6. A (Various chapters)

7. C (Chapter 23)

8. A (Chapter 28)

9. D (Chapter 29)

10. D (Chapter 33)

11. C (Chapter 36)

12. C (Chapter 38)

Long Answer

1. Gratz writes the novel in a third-person perspective, with Brandon (later Taz) and Reshmina as dual narrators. The two narrators are different in most ways. Brandon lives in New York City in 2001 (and later becomes a soldier in Afghanistan), and Reshmina is a young girl living in Afghanistan in 2019. (All chapters)

2. The characters use songs throughout the novel to locate each other. For example, Brandon recognizes Richard by him singing “This Land Is My Land,” and Reshmina hears her grandmother singing “Momardene Afghane” after the cave collapses. After they disagree about the role of the US in Afghanistan, Taz explains to Reshmina that soldiers during World War I changed the lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” to “We’re here because we’re here” as a commentary on the monotony and pointlessness of the war.